To think boys should be able to kick a ball in the street

[scruffybird]

We live in a new build close with no park or green area. There are a couple of boys who like to kick the football around by their back gate, the prolem is they keep getting told to stop doing it by this old couple, who live in the house right near them. They even phoned the police, who came round and told the parents that the boys needed to play it in their very small garden.
I find it really sad that children can't play buy their back gates without being shouted at. No wonder you don't see many children playing out side.
The mum was telling me she is considering moving because of this.
Is she being unreasonable to let her boys play football near someones house?

I'm on the fence too.
Where I live everyone has gardens. Immediately behind my house is a large playing field, behind that is an even bigger playing field.

Within a 3 minutes walk there is a park with swings.
I have in the past asked kids not to play football in front of my house as I object to the ball hitting my car, which incidentally was parked on my drive.

Tis hard if there is no playing field but equally annoying for the elderly couple.

The no ball games in our area is enforced. One young couple and their children were evicted because of the harrassment being caused to one elderly couple.

OK I think I can concede on the no football thing perhaps. I didn't allow my kids to kick footballs in our cul-de-sac, largely because of one old lady who had been upset one summer by older boys kicking a ball constantly against her side wall. I can see the logic of that. But IME the animus against children being allowed to play free-range, even in a restricted area, seems so strong these days. And illogical. It's as if society is afraid of children rather than for them.

In our town the pool was closed.
They clamped down on children skate-boarding and riding bikes anywhere.
They filled in or flattened all the places in open-ground that had been used as unofficial skateboard ramps.
At the same time as whole flock of PCSO appeared ready to support complaints about children doing just about anything.
Yes we have 2 small skateboard parks built about the same time as the pool was abruptly closed with no consultation, but for many childen it's too far to walk to them so parents have to drive them -neither place have parking.

Why don't we want children around the place? It's just weird. Children are a resource and potential aren't they?

I'm sitting here watching 4 of the local kids kicking a football round on the turning circle (I live at the end of a cul de sac). They are out in the sun, having a great time and getting lots of exercise - but they are playing considerately. They are out there often, and I have never seen the ball hit a car, and they are careful when retrieving it from other people's (unfenced, open) front gardens.

They run onto my bit of front lawn and my drive to collect their ball, and are always careful.

I do sympathise, though, with those people who have to put up with the constant thwack, thwack of balls kicked against a wall, or damaged cars and plants where children are less thoughtful - that would make me cross too.

yabu, kids should not be playing football in the street

the policemust have considered them to be a nusceince as they would not have told them to play in there gardens

I can understand people not wanting footballs kicked about, if its older boys doing it they should go elsewhere as they are old enough.

Parents should take time with their children if they are not old enough to go to the park or open space if there is any available which is also getting very rare as builders keep building new-builds on!

I live on a cul de sac, I do have a garden where my son plays but on one side the neighbours are bloody miserable and I can hear them moaning. Where is an 8 year old supposed to play other than in the safety of his own garden I wonder? He does go training at a local club where he can kick a ball about with the team mates on an astro turf pitch - there needs to be more of these where boys and girls can let off steam.

so i think the conclusion is there is no problem aslong as the kids are playing considerately, avoiding thumping on peoples walls and peoples driveways and stuff, and pay for damage, and stop at 7pm

Miserable pensioners with their cat's bum mouths sitting in deckchairs in their garden moaning about kids doing exactly what they did when small.

You would think they would be engaging with the young, joining in a bit, not sitting there being so nasty. Bring village stocks back, I say.

(I am only half joking).

I have to say kids play football by me and all I do if we need a bit of peace (eg if the younger ones are in bed) is ask them to stop for a bit and indicate how long or why, and they are very good and stop straight away. If you treat young people like human being who deserve respect they generally behave reasonably.

Do they?

I got told to fuck off by one earlier today when I asked him to get out of my garden. There was no reason for him to be in the garden.

They do indeed unless it is a complete cul de sac effort to be polite over a long period of time.

Arrgghh! This really winds me up.

Kids can be old enough to play out but not old enough to be as far away from home as the local park. Of course kids shouldn't be playing ball games where cars or windows could get broken or damaged, and they certainly shouldn't be thumping a ball against any house or garden fence other than their own, but come on people, what is so wrong with them playing out in the streets if there is the available space.

We used to play football at the end of the cul-de-sac and used the side wall of a block of garages as our goal. I don't think kids living in that street could do that now, except perhaps during weekdays of school holidays other times there are probably too many cars, even though all the houses have garages most people seem to use them for junk rather than (at least one of) their cars. It was nearly thirty years ago though when I was a kid there.

Where we live now we have no front garden and no back garden, only a tiny little back yard. My son is in desperate need of playing outside but the number of cars and the lack of care of some of the drivers has so far put me off. I suppose at least we have back lanes the younger kids can kick a ball about in.

Oops, just realised I got sidetracked.

To answer the OP, no I don't think that the boys are being unreasonable to play by their house, providing that they are not kicking the ball against the fence or causing any damage.

We live in an area where a lot of older people retire to. They are constantly complaining!

Over the years I have heard complaints about children playing on the streets, playing in their own gardens (as they make a noise), playing at local facilities e.g. tennis courts or swimming pools. There is a lovely new paved promenade but they complain if anyone dares take a child on it on a bike. And yet they tell you in the next breath how, when they were children, they were healthier and generally superior to present day children because they played out from morning till dusk without any supervision from adults!

Children have to play somewhere and, as long as they show consideration to others, people should make some allowances

Any football that comes into my garden more than 3 times gets a slow puncture .

There are about 5 balls in my back garden at. We used to throw them back but that got extremely boring after the first few dozen times and a broken greenhouse glass. Fortunately the neighbouring children latched on to the fact they don't get them back, and the garden is not easy to get into.

The more this 'game' is discouraged except at school, the better. You can trace the decline in the country accelerating when politicians began to feel the need to feign an interest in this mindless occupation. And now every garden has to have a football net aimed into the neighbour's premises.

at present...

Better than cricket balls.

or golf balls :)

Still reeling about the loony who said you should move to a place with a garden if you want to play outside. Like that is actually feasible for any normal family
Do agree older children should go to park if possible

My parents and the other oldies on their road had trouble with a group of young teens a few years back, because they were kicking the football about at all hours. They wouldn't have been too bothered except for the fact that dad kept getting footprints in his lawn where they'd jumped the wall and retrieved the ball, without asking. Not good when it's soggy clay and the dents don't go away...

Then one day it bounced off the main window and nearly gave my mother a heart attack (she's disabled and on heart meds) and finally they broke the outside light, which is a good 8' off the ground and about 15' inside the boundary. At that point Dad phoned the police. It worked for a few weeks and then they were back. After a guerrilla war for some time, eventually the boys grew up and left but not before making quite a few old folks' lives a misery. Most of the older folk have lived there since the houses were built in the 50s.

Several comments were made to the effect of 'If they were polite and careful and asked to retrieve the ball, we wouldn't have been so bothered', along with 'If they can run about with the football, why can't they walk to the recreation ground 5 mins away?'

I deplore any suggestion that folk should just put up with football being played near someone's house and that balls landing in gardens should just be accepted.
I live in a new build area, bordering a park and it has an open space like a village green. The houses have large gardens and yet I still have to put up with heavy footballs landing on my plants, hitting my windows and creating a noise. If people with children want areas for them to play in why do they move to these new build areas if there are no play areas.
When I approached a neighbour across from me about her son battering my window with a football I was told "well there is nowhere for him to play! Now if I consider that an essential for my child, what stupid kind of parent moves to an area where there isn't any (although in this case there are). Parents are just too lazy now adays to actually take children to parks to play and by the way, the children I am talking about range from 7 to 14 years of age. As a note, my brother was a professional footballer, and he was never, ever allowed to kick a ball in our garden - he had to go to an open space to play until he joined a junior football team and practised there.
I have invited the children into my garden with it being new build and shown them the labels on the plants to let them know if they damage any they will be expected to pay the cost, some of which are nearly £50. I have had three children (twin boys) and again I never allowed them to kick a ball in our garden as I considered the environment for all, not just for myself! Get real folk, you are not the only ones living in the area and why should people have hassle from your children.

Ball games are making my life a misery. I can't sit and relax in my small garden for fear of a leather football landing on my head. I can't enjoy a film or a meal without the doorbell ringing with kids demanding their balls back. I was once in bed with a migraine one hot afternoon, with the windows shut because the thud thud of the ball against my wall and the shrieks and yells were too much to bear, when the doorbell rang. I refused to answer it, so the 2 boys aged under 10, then hammered and banged the door so hard I thought they were going too kick it down! I'm a teacher and understand the need for children to have fresh air and exercise, but I was never allowed to scream in the street like this as a child. My plants and birdbath are getting trashed and my nerves are frayed. I've tried the friendly but firm approach with these boys, but now I'm tempted to stab the next ball that comes over. They play amongst parked cars in our cul-de-sac and I'm just waiting for a rear light to get smashed. My neighbour has a £30,000 BMW! They all have their own gardens and a lovely new play park, which I donated towards! I am going to keep a log of how many times a day I have to retrieve their balls and instead of getting vicious, I might say next time you will have to get your Mum to collect the ball. Then she will realise how annoying it is to have your precious spare time disrupted in this way. I'm not yet 40, but they are turning me into a grumpy old woman. Maybe I should put up that 'No Ball Games sign!

we live in a cul-de- sac and my boys and the boys next door and the kids from over the road are always out kicking a ball about, they dont kick it near cars or windows and they have a great time, often my partner or next doors dh goes out and kicks the ball around with them.

what makes me sad is that one man who lives in the cul-de-sac doesnt like it, despite the fact that they are careful and he wont let his own little boy (the same age as mine) out to play, instead he sits inside looking out, i feel very sorry for him as he is never allowed out to play.

our cul-de-sac is very quiet traffic wise and there is ample space to play and the kids go in and out of each others front gardens etc, they have ride on toys and bikes and balls and in the summer they had a lovely time and yet this one boy wasnt allowed out to play at all :(

kids have always played football in the street and if they are careful then its fine imo, but then there are no walls etc that they could kick balls against to be annoying in our cul-de-sac and the houses are set back a bit with the front gardens and then the road.

there is a bit of open space nearbyish that would be ideal for kids to play, near a church and community centre and they have put up a 'no ball games' sign there

Providing the boys aren't wellying it at their window YANBU. My parents were just like the old couple you describe (and not that old). If the boys next door played football in the street (outside their own house) they would go out and move them on at the merest bounce of the ball because they didn't like the noise. They put a massive 'no ball games' sign on the front of our house as well.

My parents called the police a number of times as well. I think it would have been my parents they considered the real nuisance but they were obliged to come out and mediate.

Nobody wants a football hitting their car or windows, nor crashing into their flowerbed and breaking the plants.

So IMO there has to be a question "should people be allowed to kick balls around where they will not be a nuisance" (My answer - Yes)

and another question "should people be allowed to kick balls around where they WILL be a nuisance" (My answer - No)

we could quibble more about what constitutes a nuisance.

I wonder how far it is to the nearest park?